History Theatre / Lohengrin

All of a sudden, a mystery knight appears in a boat drawn by a swan and offers to fight for Elsa - on the sole condition that she never ask him what his name is or where he comes from. He defeats Telramund and he and Elsa get married, but on their wedding night she cannot stop herself from asking the forbidden question, egged on by her own insecurities about Lohengrin's feelings for her ''and'' by Telramund's {{manipulative|Bastard}} wife Ortrud.

All of a sudden, a mystery knight appears in a boat drawn by a swan and offers to fight for Elsa - on the sole condition that she never ask him what his name is or where he comes from. He defeats Telramund and he and Elsa get married, but on their wedding night she cannot stop herself from asking the forbidden question, egged on by her own insecurities about Lohengrin's feelings for her ''and'' by Telramund's ManipulativeBastard of a wife, Ortrud.

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* SwansASwimming: Lohengrin's {{Animal Motif|s}} of course. He famously appears in a boat pulled by a swan. It turns out [[BalefulPolymorph the swan was Gottfried]], who was cursed by Ortrud.

''Lohengrin'' is the sixth opera by Music/RichardWagner, and his last conventional {{opera}}, based on the Germanic canon of Myth/{{Arthurian Legend}}s.

* ForcedTransformation: [[spoiler: What ''actually'' happened to poor Gottfried, at the hands of Ortrud. He is the swan that draws Lohengrin's boat, and only recovers his human form at the end of the opera thanks to Lohengrin's prayers.]]

* TheOldGods: Ortrud secretly worships Wodan and Freia, and wishes to visit their vengeance on those who have forsaken them.

* SwansASwimming: The Swan Knight's {{Animal Motif|s}} of course. He famously appears in a boat pulled by a swan. It turns out [[BalefulPolymorph the swan was Gottfried]], who was cursed by Ortrud.

This was King UsefulNotes/LudwigIIOfBavaria's favorite opera and myth, and the reason his famous BigFancyCastle, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle Neuschwanstein]], has swan pictures and sculptures everywhere.

''Lohengrin'' is the sixth opera by Music/RichardWagner, and his last conventional {{opera}}, based of the Germanic canon of Myth/{{Arthurian Legend}}s.

* SwansASwimming: The Swan Knight's {{Animal Motif|s}} of course. He famously appears in a boat pulled by a swan.

* JustTheFirstCitizen: In a likely homage to [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades Godfrey de Bouillon]], Lohengrin refuses the title of Duke, preferring to be called simply the "Protector (''Schützer'') of Brabant." (In Wagner's original libretto the title is "Leader of Brabant" -- i.e. "''Führer''" -- but that is changed nowadays for obvious reasons.)
* LohengrinAndMendelssohn: The bridal chorus "''Treulich geführt ziehet dahin''" that opens Act III is one of the two constituents of this trope.
** The fact that the bridal chorus has become so associated with marriages is ironic, since [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding this opera doesn't exactly end with a long and happy marriage]]]].

''Lohengrin'' is the sixth opera by Music/RichardWagner, and his last conventional {{opera}}.

''Lohengrin'' is the sixth opera by Music/RichardWagner, and his last conventional opera.

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler: What ''actually'' happened to poor Gottfried, at the hands of Ortrud. He is the swan that draws Lohengrin's boat, and only recovers his human form at the end of the opera thanks to Lohengrin's prayers.]]

* JustTheFirstCitizen: In a likely homage to [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades Godfrey de Bouillon]], Lohengrin refuses the title of Duke, preferring to be called simply the "Protector (''Schützer'') of Brabant." (In Wagner's original libretto the title is "Leader of Brabant" -- i.e. "Führer" -- but that is changed nowadays for obvious reasons.)